What's Troubling Our Waters
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Bycatch
Fish and Animals Caught and Wasted
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Worldwide, fisheries throw away 25% of their catch
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, one in four animals caught in fishing gear dies as bycatch—unwanted or unintentional catch. Tons of fish are tossed out, dead or dying, because they're not the kind the fishermen wanted to catch.
The discarded animals may have no market value, or there may be no room on the boat to bring them to shore. Or the bycatch may be a marketable species, but too small to sell. Sometimes, fish are discarded because the fishermen lack the proper permits to land them. Dolphins, sea turtles, seals and whales all get caught by accident in fishing gear and drown. Seabirds, including endangered albatrosses, drown when they snatch baited hooks and are pulled under water.
Bycatch hurts us all
Sharks, swordfish and red snapper are just a few of the fishes harmed by accidental kills. Bycatch often takes young fish that could rebuild depleted populations if they were allowed to grow up and breed.
The animals we catch and throw away have important roles to play in marine food webs. By killing these animals, we're taking food away from tunas, salmon, swordfish, dolphins, sea lions and other ocean wildlife.
You made a difference to dolphins!
Consumer pressure works. The U.S. and Europe are the biggest markets for canned tuna. But when hundreds of thousands of dolphins died as bycatch in purse seine nets, concerned consumers forced the tuna industry to change. Unfortunately, some "dolphin-safe" fishing methods are not safe for sea turtles, sharks, wahoo, mahi-mahi and young tunas. These animals, and many others, die at staggering rates now that purse seiners are working to avoid dolphins.
Be Part of the Solution
By making better seafood choices using the Seafood Watch card, you know which fish are caught with little bycatch. That way you can support responsible fishermen and help reduce wasted catch.
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It is estimated that for each pound of shrimp caught in a trawl net, an average of two to ten pounds of other marine life is caught and discarded overboard as bycatch.
Millions of sharks are caught as bycatch and die in gear meant for other fishes, such as longlining. The central line is three to 50 miles long and is allowed to "soak" in the ocean, attracting anything that swims by.
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